Ratio 3 is pleased to present Turns into Stone, new work by Ara Peterson, on view from November 6 to December 19, 2009.

In this exhibition, Ara Peterson will present two distinct bodies of work. The first is a collaboration between Ara and his father, Jack Peterson. The two have been making backgammon boards together for the past three years, constructing and abstracting the game's basic design. The colorful and elaborate compositions of the playfields are based on some of Ara’s earliest visual inspirations, including geometric family kilims, ceramics painted by his great- grandfather, and highly organized piles of firewood stacked by his father. Their interest in backgammon stems from their ancestry, and Jack taught Ara to play at a young age. Peterson considers the process of designing these boards with his father to be personal and spiritual.

The second body of work is also inspired by intuitive visual reverberations from Peterson’s early memory; a snapshot of a hallucination in three dimensions. These new sculptures represent seven years exploration into relief pattern, layered materials, surface treatment, organization of space, and animated movement. The multidimensional forms include free standing sentinels, individually painted slat panels, regionally painted surfaces, tubes, and most recently, ceramic platens finished with crystalline glaze